23RD JULY 2000

 

Destiny's Child - "Jumpin' Jumpin'"

Official UK Chart peak: #5

 

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Cleopatra - "Come & Get Me"

Official UK Chart peak: #29

 

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Our second visit to the Destiny's Child camp now, and their second top 5 hit of the new millennium. If Precious were the example of how to do R&B flavoured pop incorrectly, the Destiny's were, whether you liked Beyon-I mean them or not, the prime example of how to get it right. True, they were at this point leaders over even the UK's biggest exports into the girl group market - something that as we'll see a bit later worked to the detriment of its biggest and best known. But that's largely because they were leading their own market in a way.

 

 

Let's not forget here this was the last single before their imperial phase both here in the UK and in the States kicked off and in some ways, 'Jumpin' Jumpin' is like a gentle but still rumbunctious ushering in of that imminent era of world domination. It was also their last single with newbie replacement Farrah in their number before it became the lineup the world over knows best of all. The message to all concerned, to quote their later hit, was quite simply 'Can you keep up?'

 

And sadly, the answer was a resounding 'No' for Mancunian trio Cleopatra, who were making their return that week. It had been just shy of 18 months since they'd last been inside the top 40. But just two years prior to this, after being signed to Madonna's Maverick label, they were riding high with three top 5 hits - 'Cleopatra's Theme', 'Life Ain't Easy' and a cover of Jackson 5's 'I Want You Back' as well as releasing a gold selling album, supporting the Spice Girls at Wembley Stadium and being nominated for a 'Best Breakthrough' trophy at the BRITs in '99.

 

 

They had also, of course, starred in their own, catchphrase based TV series 'Comin' Atcha' which had been a ratings hit. Alas, a lot can happen in 18 months, and when they re-emerged in July 2000 it wasn't so much 'Comin' Atcha' in their usual playful wardrobe of dayglo jester hats and goggles, more 'Come and Get Me', as per the title of their sultry sounding comeback single. Alas, like with B*Witched, their record company had failed to grasp the concept of maturing the look and sound of a fairly bouncy girl group only when it was the right time. And after nearly a year away, it so wasn't the right time for Cleopatra, hence this abrupt flop and ultimately, end to their brief chart career.

27TH AUGUST 2000

 

Daphne & Celeste - "School's Out"

Official UK Chart peak: #12

 

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Madasun - "Feel Good"

Official UK Chart peak: #29

 

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Along with January, August has always traditionally been a month when the music industry takes a small sejourn of sorts to give way from normal service to an 'anything goes' kind of period - usually in anticipation of, and warm up to the final leg of the year where sales and volume of new releases tend to be at their peak. 2000 was no exception, and whilst girl group alumni weren't exactly in short supply - Melanie C had just her second solo chart topper on the trot with 'I Turn To You', and a week later her colleague Victoria Beckham was close but no cigar in that infamous chart battle involving herself and True Steppers vs the mighty Spiller 'Groovejet' record - actual girl groups weren't making new entries or peaks until the dying days of this month.

 

And so we now make our final visits to two of our earlier acts in this thread - so firstly, let's wrap up the infamous tale of Daphne & Celeste. As we mentioned earlier on, for all their critical adoration and equal levels of public hatred, all told their debut album 'We Didn't Say That' had been a commercial flop so far, expected given the sort of act they were but still not ideal. The cavalry arrived in the shape of a cover of the old Alice Cooper hit 'School's Out' as their third single - somewhat oddly timed release wise when most were a week away from going back to school - although it was really just a bit of 'Smurfs Goes Pop' rehash and far from the brilliance of their debut.

 

 

But whilst the single had been designed to boost the album and change their fortunes - which it sort of did, outpeaking previous top 20 hit 'U.G.L.Y' by six places - there was a great deal of publicity on release week. They just hadn't banked, depending on how you look at it, on it bringing attention for all the wrong reasons. The story goes that D&C were massive fans of Eminem, who was riding high that summer following his first chart topper 'The Real Slim Shady' and release of his second album 'The Marshall Mathers LP', and when they heard the US rap superstar was to headline the main stage at the annual Reading and Leeds rock festivals, they begged their manager, in an act of either complete bravado or stupidity, to be added to the line up on the same day he was so they could meet him.

 

So you can probably imagine the complete disappointment - and then horror - that followed in their camp when firstly Eminem pulled out at the last moment, and secondly found out that they couldn't do the same and would have to face the music - and the bottles of wee, and wheelchairs, and dead meat and vegetables - to a baying crowd of booing hardcore rock fans. The

of their performance is still easily the oddest - nay amusing - bit of music related content you'll see on the internet, a kind of cross between The Muppet Show and a Metallica concert.

 

They seem to have taken their misfortune of being former trolls now troll-ees rather on the chin here, as if the trolling was just water off a duck's back ('Die? Yes, I will!' they gleefully agree with a banner at one point), and again, it's a mark of the lines between being deadly serious and ironic that they forever seemed to be crossing and which remains one of the greatest mysteries about Daphne & Celeste even to this day. Alas, the backlash was probably not the publicity their label had hoped for, and just a month later, when the dust had settled and with 'School's Out' having long sunk out the top 40, they were dropped by Island and that was the end of their reign of chaos upon the UK charts.

 

Also waving cheerio on their third and final hit - but in much less of a blaze of publicity - this week were Madasun. Japan and Australia had already welcomed their debut album 'The Way It Is' with open arms by this point - 'Don't You Worry' went top 10 and was certified platinum in the latter country - but promotional commitments there meant sparse attention was given to 'Feel Good' upon its release back here on home turf.

 

 

Even taking the promotion factor out the equation though, I struggled to recall this one over their earlier two hits from 2000 and even looking at it now I can see why this one flopped, it's just really quite a dull effort. I did actually see a copy of 'The Way It Is' in a charity shop a few years back and considered investing in it - maybe I should just to see if there was anything on it stronger than this that could have kept them in a record deal for another year or two.

Edited June 5, 201510 yr by ThePensmith

17TH SEPTEMBER 2000

 

Sugababes - "Overload"

Official UK Chart peak: #6

 

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Time to say hello to another act we'll be meeting a lot. In fact we'll be meeting them - wait for it - 26 times over the course of this thread, by which point (spoiler alert) they'll no longer look anything like what you see above. So where to start with this, the single that started it all for the girls certified the most successful female chart act of the 21st century? Maybe my own memories would be a good place to start. I can remember very clearly where I was the first time I heard 'Overload'. I was on holiday at the end of August in Scotland with my family, just two weeks away from starting high school in Year 7, and on my 11th birthday, as we drove into Edinburgh for a day trip to the castle, I heard this shuffly, tightly knit harmony led slice of breakbeat pop on Jo Whiley's Radio 1 show and was instantly intrigued.

 

And, perhaps unusually for the time, so too were my elder sisters. So when they discovered that it wasn't one of those cool, one off dance tracks they were so fond of from their Kiss Clublife compilations, they were shocked to say the least. A quick peek at the rest of the top 10 from the same week v1.0 of Sugababes made their unassuming debut is a revelation. Also entering that week were Kylie and S Club 7 ('On a Night Like This' and 'Natural' respectively) and Vanessa Amorosi ('Absolutely Everybody').

 

 

The smiley smiley pop (perhaps less so in S Club's case, as Rachel took lead on 'Natural' and it was a sultry little beast compared to 'Reach') of those other new entries made 'Overload' stand out straight away. In amongst the wealth of new girl groups 2000 had offered thus far, most of whom had burned bright and faded quickly, suddenly here were three girls (Mutya Buena, Keisha Buchanan and Siobhan Donaghy) who represented a new kind of girl power for the noughties, a bit more grit, a bit more streetwise sass that belied their teen years.

 

As debuts go, 'Overload' wasn't heralded with anywhere near the same levels of publicity as a 'Last One Standing' or 'Dirty Water' had been - or at least it seemed like it at the time. What it lacked in publicity, it made up for in long standing radio play, and - unusually for a new girl group at the turn of the millennium - universal critical praise from the off. And for a record as sneakily fine as this, it was well deserved - and little did we know that even better was still to come.

8TH OCTOBER 2000

 

All Saints - "Black Coffee"

Official UK Chart peak: #1

 

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Supersister - "Coffee"

Official UK Chart peak: #16

 

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Up next, another week where two acts entering the top 40 share something in common - in this case song titles. Thankfully, that's all they share, so let's first focus on the fifth - and to date final - UK chart topper from All Saints. Apart from their double-a-sided covers of 'Lady Marmalade' and 'Under the Bridge' two years previously, 'Black Coffee' is interestingly, their only single to reach number 1 that wasn't penned from the hand of Shaznay Lewis.

 

It was instead, the work of one time Miss UK winner Kirsty Bertarelli - née Roper - who is perhaps better known these days as the wife of yachtsman and business tycoon Ernesto Bertarelli, and who were ranked as Britain's fourth wealthiest couple in 2014 by the Sunday Times Rich List with a combined fortune of £9.4 billion. (I know. Just let that sink in for a second like I had to when looking up the Wikipedia entry on her.)

 

 

The story goes that Kirsty was looking to launch a solo career at that time, and had written the song for her future husband when he was away on another round the world power yachting trip (as we all casually are at some point during the day). Jamie Nelson, then A&R at London Records where All Saints were signed at the time, instantly loved the early demo of the song, titled 'Wouldn't Wanna Be', and before long it was reworked by William Orbit and put forward as the second single from their sophomore album 'Saints & Sinners'.

 

In a year where the turnover of number ones was at its highest, 'Black Coffee' was a lost gem that many still refer to as such, and it's hard not to see why. Wonderfully ambient, dream like backing married with the Saints' lush ear for harmonies was always a winner on paper and was even more so in practice. It's just rather hard then, to consider that behind the laidback facade of this release, things were going very badly wrong within their camp - something which we'll come onto with our next visit to them...

 

And from the sublime offerings considering coffee from this week, we now move onto the - I shall put this bluntly - absolutely bloody awful. Supersister - made up of Eleanor Phillips, Tina Peacock and Louise Fudge (yes. That's her actual name) - were a three piece from Sheffield who rose to prominence opening for Steps on some of their open-air summer shows up and down the UK that year, with this being their debut release.

 

What makes 'Coffee' a truly awful pop record is different to say, what made 'Sister' or 'Last One Standing' a bad but not necessarily hateworthy record. Nothing's more lazy in pop then when the tired old 'food/drink object as being like doing a bit of the sex' metaphor is wheeled out and it is at its crassest, laziest and downright patronising worst here.

 

 

Apart from the fact they are dressed like the missing cross between a Formula 1 pit team and page 3 girls, it's the lazy psuedo-disco backing and the chorus of 'I like my men, like I like my coffee / Hot, strong and sweet like toffee' so teeth grindingly bad that frankly it was the pop music equivalent of one of those Ryvita 'Ladies that Crunch' adverts, so denigrating of its target audience and so utterly unlikeable. 'Coffee' would rise to prominence again during the summer of 2001 when, during the second series of 'Big Brother', that series' eventual victor Brian Dowling was prancing round the house singing it ad infinitum - which coincidentally, is when we'll next encounter Supersister.

15TH OCTOBER 2000

 

Atomic Kitten - "Follow Me"

Official UK Chart peak: #20

 

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It's fair to say, given my disclaimer on them at the start of this thread, that I have been quite kind to Atomic Kitten thus far, largely on the strength of both 'See Ya' and 'I Want Your Love'. That won't however, be the case with this, their fourth single and one that's largely forgotten about by both their hardcore fans and even casual pop fans of the early 00's - so much so, I had to go to Discogs to find a higher quality version of the single artwork to accompany this entry.

 

Released a week ahead of the original UK release of their debut album 'Right Now' (which had already produced their first number one, 'Cradle' in Japan. We'll be meeting it much later on in this thread), 'Follow Me' was in some ways, a good indicator of where their sound was heading next following all the bonkers disco romps they'd given us thus far - here, we had the first of several largely Liz and Tash led midtempos.

 

 

And really, passable but not much else midtempos. It's not so much that there's necessarily anything bad about 'Follow Me', more over, it's that given the feisty but enjoyable thumpers that had come before it, it was a radical departure and saw them lose their claws of edge, so to speak. Even though she was some two months away from her actual departure, it's almost like Kerry isn't even there on this record anyway.

 

This was also, of course, their lowest charting single to date and first to miss the top 10, which perhaps highlights my indifference to this song isn't a lone one. 'Right Now' (the album) then scraped in to the top 40 for seven days a week later - and tremors began to be felt at Innocent Records who were considering dropping the Kittens following this grave whammy of underperforming single and album. But they had one more ace up their sleeve to try and save the day - and all around thought they surely couldn't pull it off. Or could they...?

Edited May 28, 201510 yr by ThePensmith

22ND OCTOBER 2000

 

Honeyz - "Not Even Gonna Trip"

Official UK Chart peak: #24

 

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What is it about Eternal and Honeyz and their choice of methods for announcing resignations/firings? Just two years prior to this, Kelle Bryan had obviously been infamously fired via fax by the sisters Grimm - sorry, Bennett. In the summer of 2000, a year after joining, and with the release of a Donna Summer cover for a Diet Coke ad campaign imminent, replacement Honey, Mariama Goodman, had, after particularly nasty behaviour from troublemaking colleague Naima Belkhiati (something about a video shoot and her trying to hit on Mariama's then Premiership footballer boyfriend) that had left her crying every morning on the way into work, decided enough was enough, and from an internet cafe, she emailed both label and management, and then Naima and lead Honey Celena Cherry to say she wasn't coming back.

 

What happened next was baffling though, even by most girl group fall out standards. Management called stray original Honey, Heavenli Abdi, in for a meeting. So too, were Celena and Naima, with management at the meeting bluntly telling them: you're getting back together or you're not gonna have a career. I can quite clearly remember watching their tearful 'reunion' performance of 'Finally Found' on SMTV Live the day it was announced Heavenli was back in the band, and had no idea it was all as much of a front as it was.

 

 

But then you think, Geri did of course get back with the Spice Girls. But only until some near 10 years after she'd originally left and respective hatchets had been buried. I'm surprised I didn't question the logic of having an original member who left back in the band so soon after they did a runner. Anyway, with grudging smiles wacked on, the planned Diet Coke single fell through, and instead came 'Not Even Gonna Trip', lifted off the soundtrack for the sequel to the original Nutty Professor film starring Eddie Murphy, which had already produced another top 5 hit for the sequel's co-star Janet Jackson two months previous to this ('Doesn't Really Matter'), whilst this could only scrape into the top 30 - their first single to miss the top 10.

 

Compared to the epic sass-fest that was 'Won't Take It Lying Down' though - and even their earlier releases before that - the single was, as with Precious earlier, a very bad attempt at the American R&B sound of the time that was dominating, coupled with possibly the cringiest use of acting in a pop video for that time ('He's so not worth your time Ce ... I know. I just can't believe he cheated on me with that girl!' - just awful). It'll be just under a year later by the time we next meet them - and things will have got a lot worse for Honeyz by then.

29TH OCTOBER 2000

 

Spice Girls - "Holler / Let Love Lead the Way"

Official UK Chart peak: #1

 

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There's been much talk from me thus far in this thread about the what-I-called 'Spice boom/hangover effect' - and now we finally meet the group responsible for that very effect. By the time the remaining quartet of Posh, Sporty, Baby and Scary returned to the charts in the autumn of 2000, it'd been clocking on nearly 2 years since the last time the Spice Girls had been inside the charts. Their two singles prior to this in 1998 - 'Viva Forever' and 'Goodbye' - had both been back to back number ones, largely, it has to be said, on the back of the immediate aftermath and publicity of Geri's departure. So their first release since that time was going to be a real test of seeing if the UK's biggest selling girl group of a generation still had girl power with staying power in the new millennium.

 

However, in the 22 months between 'Goodbye' and this new double-A-sided release, you wouldn't have thought they'd been away at all. In fact, their output and chart trajectory as solo artists - both current and former members - was two thirds more than what they charted and achieved as a band between 1996 and 1998 and thus meant that, even though they were on a break from being a group, their profile and popularity was arguably greater than ever:

 

SPICE GIRLS UK CHART ENTRIES: DECEMBER 1998 - OCTOBER 2000

 

Dec 98 - Melanie C - When You're Gone (feat. Bryan Adams) - #3

May 99 - Geri - Look at Me - #2

Jul 99 - Mel B - Word Up - #13 (Thanks to Jay for the correction :D )

Aug 99 - Geri - Mi Chico Latino - #1

Sep 99 - Melanie C - Goin' Down - #4

Nov 99 - Geri - Lift Me Up - #1

Nov 99 - Emma - What I Am (feat. Tin Tin Out) - #2

Nov 99 - Melanie C - Northern Star - #4

Mar 00 - Geri - Bag It Up - #1

Mar 00 - Melanie C - Never Be the Same Again (feat. Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes) - #1

Aug 00 - Melanie C - I Turn To You - #1

Aug 00 - Victoria - Out of Your Mind (feat. True Steppers & Dane Bowers) - #2

Sep 00 - Mel B - Tell Me - #4

 

Bar Mel B's low charting with her Cameo cover 'Word Up' in the summer of '99, all the other 12 singles listed above were top 5 hits - and nearly half of those were number ones. So whilst this hit rate boded well for a return to the top as a group, it also raised a bit of cause for concern. I recently purchased the book 'Spice Girls Revisited' by Sunday Times rock critic David Sinclair, a fascinating, nay forensic account of their full rise to glory and the difficult 'third album' years and the solo careers that followed - well worth a read if you can get hold of it.

 

 

He noted with interest that, as 2000 was drawing to a close, interest and demand for Spice Girls releases - group or solo - was starting to wear thin with the public. Mel B's first album 'Hot' was released two weeks prior to the release of their third album 'Forever', rather against the wishes of Virgin Records who were worried about market overkill, and it duly bombed out at a lowly #28. Likewise, Melanie C's fifth and final release off her debut album 'If That Were Me' could only reach #18 just before Christmas. Even in the years that followed, only Emma ('What Took You So Long?') and Geri ('It's Raining Men') were to reach number 1 again.

 

Also, whereas two years' prior to this they were still market leaders in terms of sound and sales, in their absence as a group, the rise of the more credible likes of Destiny's Child with more clipped, hi-tech R&B grooves and sass, had suddenly sent their A&R Ashley Newton and the Spices running in the direction of that sound, and the producers responsible for it - namely Rodney 'Darkchild' Jerkins and Jam and Lewis, the former of whom produced the large bulk of the 'Forever' album including these first two singles which had been previewed at their 'Christmas in Spiceworld' shows in 1999.

 

 

Of course, following the gargantuan success of their first two albums was always going to be a challenge. More so without the member whom most considered to be their leader and spokesperson and who gave them their very British cheek, wit and attitude. And on paper, it looked as if it was as business as usual when 'Holler / Let Love Lead the Way' rocketed straight in at the top. At time of writing, they are still the girl group with the most UK number ones to their name (this was their ninth and to date final - a record they share with ABBA overall).

 

But of the two featured here, it's heartfelt ballad 'Let Love Lead the Way' which is probably the closest in sound and style to what made the Spices such an unabashed joy in their first formation. The more publicized 'Holler' was a passable but ultimately flat attempt at being self consciously serious and sexy - which compared with the playful naughtiness of 'Say You'll Be There' was a marked contrast. The Spice Girls were about a cheeky, kooky mad vibe and energy, and all of that had been lost in the great pursuit of credibility and maturity.

 

When the parent album 'Forever' was throttled by both critics and by Westlife fans - it was infamously beaten to the top of the album charts by their second release 'Coast to Coast', when the Irish boyband's popularity was at its zenith - the future seemed to be set in stone that for now, their solo careers were the more preferred choice of a Spice set up in the public's eyes. It'll be another seven years before we meet them one last time - but even with the unfortunate footnote that they finished their initial five year run on, there's no disputing the legacy and history that they'd left behind on pop music forever. But it was now time for a new form of girl power for the 00's.

Edited July 28, 20159 yr by ThePensmith

12TH NOVEMBER 2000

 

Girl Thing - "Girls on Top"

Official UK Chart peak: #25

 

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Mary Mary - "I Sings"

Official UK Chart peak: #32

 

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Time to say 'ta ta' to two more of 2000's two/three hit wonders. First up, we hop on - and then quickly hop back off - the doomed ship Girl Thing. In the months immediately following their catastrophic 'all hype and no number one' debut, Simon Cowell and their label duly sent them out on promo duties in Europe and Australia (you're seeing a trend here, right?) and actually, didn't too badly out there. Better than the UK anyway, where 'Last One Standing' was certified gold in Australia and spent 14 weeks in the ARIA charts, as well as hitting the top 20 in Holland (Anika's home country) and Belgium.

 

 

Nonetheless, all this time spent away from the UK was further adding fuel to the fire that the illusion of them as would-be suitors to the Spice Girls' soon to be vacant throne was all a bit of a card trick. Which thus made promo duties for this, their second and final single, rather difficult indeed. Again, as with their last single, comparisons were duly made between this and another Spice classic, in this case 'Who Do You Think You Are'. Whilst it does undoubtedly owe a bit of it's spirit and essence to that track, it's also fair to say that it's a bit like Blondie's 'Rapture' reimagined by S Club 7 - funky disco styled pop from the turn of the century that's pleasant enough, even if the chorus is punctuated by that infernal 'Oooh oooh' noise popularised by H from Steps.

 

Alas 'Girls on Top' was to fare even worse than their debut and bomb into the top 30 for a sole seven day run - and not perform much better elsewhere. There's a chance they may have been appearing in this thread again by the time 2001 rolled around - with a track that was supposed to be their big 'save the day' song written by Alison Clarkson (née Betty Boo) called 'Pure & Simple'. Then that was duly given to another new act that were being looked after by their management team - namely, the winners of the very first 'Popstars' series, Hear'Say, who stormed to number 1 with it the following March and scored (at the time) the fastest selling debut single ever in UK chart history, whilst Girl Thing were duly dropped. The group's 'Baby Spice', Jodi Albert, of course, would be part of another, decidedly less behatted girl group in Wonderland (formed and managed by her Westlife hubby, Kian Egan and Louis Walsh) a decade later, but despite a top 10 album they wouldn't get a single higher than #57.

 

'Shackles (Praise You)' always felt, by the time the final months of 2000 rolled around, like it was a great one hit wonder of that summer but that that was all the nu-gospel we really needed from Mary Mary. So it's a big surprise that we're even meeting the sisters again, but they did manage to achieve a follow up hit, however small in size it was.

 

 

A collaboration with low key rapper BB Jay, 'I Sings' was decidedly less hooky then 'Shackles' and was definitely more hip hop orientated. In fact, it's the sort of thing that wouldn't have sounded out of place on a Mary J Blige or Jill Scott album. This was also the single's peak position globally, as it failed to scale up any of the Billboard charts in America like their debut had aside from the R&B chart, where it peaked at #68.

26TH NOVEMBER 2000

 

Destiny's Child - "Independent Women, Part 1"

Official UK Chart peak: #1

 

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The only three chart toppers we've encountered so far in this thread have come from Spice Girls and All Saints - arguably only merely 'adding on' to their impressive tallies of number ones from the 90s. Now is when things start to get interesting because here's where, after seven top 20 hits on the trot - two of which we've already met - the newly trio line up of Destiny's Child finally sailed to chart glory and thus began their imperial phase - with an appropriate song to match.

 

Lifted from the soundtrack to the big screen remake of popular 70's secret agent series 'Charlie's Angels' starring Cameron Diaz, Lucy Liu and Drew Barrymore, 'Independent Women' (not sure why the 'Part 1' bit was necessary, maybe someone could care to enlighten?) saw them, nearly a month after the Spice Girls' final charting single, soar to their rightful crown as the girl group that were the ones to beat at that time.

 

 

As well as forever altering the way we respond to someone saying the word 'question' in everyday conversation, everything about this single is as majestic as they come. Perhaps influenced by the romping 70's feel that the new movie was so indebted to, it's all rooty tooty brass and dramatic spy/cop show strings that had sass in plentiful bounty - and not one, but two choruses - both as amazing as each other.

 

Two other chart facts here: this was number one here in the UK at the same time it had begun a seven week reign atop the Billboard charts in America - which, coupled with the three weeks they'd spent on top earlier in the year with 'Say My Name' meant they were the second longest reigning act atop the US charts in 2000 after Santana. Also of note: both this and their next chart topper we'll meet were dethroned after one week by a certain S Club 7 - on this occasion, they were bumped off by their Children in Need ballad 'Never Had a Dream Come True'.

Edited June 10, 201510 yr by ThePensmith

Last post from today - we get into 2001 on Thursday! :dance: Thanks for all the reads and messages so far people :D

 

24TH DECEMBER 2000

 

Sugababes - "New Year"

Official UK Chart peak: #12

 

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And so we arrive at our final entry from the first year of the 21st century - and an appropriately titled one to boot. And also, a rather seasonable one for the week Sugababes v1.0's hotly anticipated second single charted (although perhaps not for the time of year that I'm writing this piece - June 2015 if you're reading this a few years down the line, latecomer readers. A belated hello to you if this is the case).

 

Though it was never in contention to upset the almighty battle of Irish boyband vs. kid's TV handyman in the race for that year's Christmas number one (Westlife vs. Bob the Builder, which good ol' Bob duly won, albeit at the expense of All Saints retaining their crown as biggest seller of the year overall with 'Pure Shores'), the Babes duly won praise, as with 'Overload' before it, and support as an underdog contender for the festive top spot from the serious music press who were tiring of the rapid turnover, disposable state of play at the top end of the charts in this year.

 

 

And you can see why the likes of Melody Maker and Uncut were singing their praises. Even listening back to it now as I write this, 'New Year' manages that magical thing that only a great Christmas-y pop song not specifically about Christmas can do. East 17's 'Stay Another Day' is a great example of this, and even though it still gets frequent airplay in December from 'cooler' radio stations this remains something of a lost gem - indeed, their 2006 best of 'Overloaded' bizarrely omitted this over some of their higher charting but lesser remembered singles from later incarnations of the Babes. But still, this is just gorgeous.

 

A real winter warmer, they tear the haunting three part harmonies on this song from their soul (props in particular have to be given to Siobhan Donaghy's vocal here, I think) whilst punctuating the chorus with gentle, distant sleigh bells, meaning that it's more a heady mulled wine than a syrupy toffee nut latte. And again, as they themselves mention in the song's chorus, it displayed a maturity that made them appear 'older than my years'. We'll meet them twice more again in 2001, but even though their imperial phase was still some 18 months away, this was continuing to slowly drop hints at what further brilliance was still to come from Sugababes.

This thread has been very interesting to read! :D This is such a big task, I admire your dedication. I guess as the 2000s progresses, it'll basically become a Sugababes and Girls Aloud thread for a while, ha.

 

This really takes me right back to the days of buying CD singles with pocket money, in Woolworths/Our Price and the likes. :wub: Out of all the girl group songs in 2000, I remember that I bought (or my parents bought for me~) the following singles:

 

All Saints - 'Pure Shores' / Honeyz - 'Won't Take It Lying Down' / Daphne & Celeste - 'U.G.L.Y.' / Girl Thing - 'Last One Standing' / All Saints - 'Black Coffee / Spice Girls - 'Holler'/'Let Love Lead The Way' / Destiny's Child - 'Independent Women Part 1'.

 

~~~

 

I wasn't quite on board with Atomic Kitten in 2000. No doubt I saw them a load of times on SMTV/CD:UK, but something about them didn't click with me for some reason. Despite the fact that I actually parted with money for Daphne & Celeste and Girl Thing in that same year :/ lol. 'U.G.L.Y.' was a bit of a class anthem tbh, for a brief moment. :lol:

 

~~~

 

I love the Spice Girls Revisited book that you referenced, I should re-read it again someday (it was originally published in 2004, I haven't read it since then!).

 

Slightly random fact: 'Word Up' by Melanie G B actually peaked at #13! :o There were errors in that week's chart, but nevertheless the OCC ran with the incorrect chart. When the OCC site was given a refreshed look this year, the never seen before "correct" chart is what they published, and Mel was at #13.

 

I remember being so gutted when 'Forever' was held off #1 by Westlife. I really couldn't stand them back then! I still shudder a bit if I ever hear 'My Love'. :kink:

 

I have to admit that I loved 'Holler' (and still do), even though it sticks out a bit in their run of singles. I was so thrilled that they were back as a group, after what had seemed like ages to me (even though, as you say, their presence as solo artists meant they were never truly away from the public eye). I wonder if their decision to release a Double A side was a slight indication of insecurity, not going with 'Holler' by itself. After all, 'LLLTW' was somewhat reminiscent of their previous ballads so it probably felt like a safe option. Personally I'm sure they'd have got to #1 with just 'Holler'. It got to #2 in the Radio Airplay chart (believe it or not) while 'LLLTW' didn't go Top 50, so I dare say that most of its sales were driven by 'Holler' anyway.

 

Top 3 sales in that week:

 

106,000 - #1 - Spice Girls - 'Holler'/'Let Love Lead The Way'

65,500 - #2 - Martine McCutcheon - 'I'm Over You' :wub:

60,000 - #3 - Ricky Martin - 'She Bangs'

 

~~~

 

I've rambled on for too long! I really look forward to the 2001 commentaries. *.* [i loved 'New Year' by the way, even though it doesn't seem at all popular with fans of the Sugababes. I actually bought their debut album in its first week of release. :o]

This thread has been very interesting to read! :D This is such a big task, I admire your dedication. I guess as the 2000s progresses, it'll basically become a Sugababes and Girls Aloud thread for a while, ha.

 

This really takes me right back to the days of buying CD singles with pocket money, in Woolworths/Our Price and the likes. :wub: Out of all the girl group songs in 2000, I remember that I bought (or my parents bought for me~) the following singles:

 

All Saints - 'Pure Shores' / Honeyz - 'Won't Take It Lying Down' / Daphne & Celeste - 'U.G.L.Y.' / Girl Thing - 'Last One Standing' / All Saints - 'Black Coffee / Spice Girls - 'Holler'/'Let Love Lead The Way' / Destiny's Child - 'Independent Women Part 1'.

 

~~~

 

I wasn't quite on board with Atomic Kitten in 2000. No doubt I saw them a load of times on SMTV/CD:UK, but something about them didn't click with me for some reason. Despite the fact that I actually parted with money for Daphne & Celeste and Girl Thing in that same year :/ lol. 'U.G.L.Y.' was a bit of a class anthem tbh, for a brief moment. :lol:

 

~~~

 

I love the Spice Girls Revisited book that you referenced, I should re-read it again someday (it was originally published in 2004, I haven't read it since then!).

 

Slightly random fact: 'Word Up' by Melanie G B actually peaked at #13! :o There were errors in that week's chart, but nevertheless the OCC ran with the incorrect chart. When the OCC site was given a refreshed look this year, the never seen before "correct" chart is what they published, and Mel was at #13.

 

I remember being so gutted when 'Forever' was held off #1 by Westlife. I really couldn't stand them back then! I still shudder a bit if I ever hear 'My Love'. :kink:

 

I have to admit that I loved 'Holler' (and still do), even though it sticks out a bit in their run of singles. I was so thrilled that they were back as a group, after what had seemed like ages to me (even though, as you say, their presence as solo artists meant they were never truly away from the public eye). I wonder if their decision to release a Double A side was a slight indication of insecurity, not going with 'Holler' by itself. After all, 'LLLTW' was somewhat reminiscent of their previous ballads so it probably felt like a safe option. Personally I'm sure they'd have got to #1 with just 'Holler'. It got to #2 in the Radio Airplay chart (believe it or not) while 'LLLTW' didn't go Top 50, so I dare say that most of its sales were driven by 'Holler' anyway.

 

Top 3 sales in that week:

 

106,000 - #1 - Spice Girls - 'Holler'/'Let Love Lead The Way'

65,500 - #2 - Martine McCutcheon - 'I'm Over You' :wub:

60,000 - #3 - Ricky Martin - 'She Bangs'

 

~~~

 

I've rambled on for too long! I really look forward to the 2001 commentaries. *.* [i loved 'New Year' by the way, even though it doesn't seem at all popular with fans of the Sugababes. I actually bought their debut album in its first week of release. :o]

 

Thanks Jay, glad you're enjoying it! I'll correct the Spice Girls entry above accordingly in a second re: Mel B's chart position for 'Word Up'. And it is a brilliant book isn't it? I only picked it up for 50p in The Works clearance a few months ago but it's already proved more forensic and insightful than some of the girls' individual autobiographies.

 

I bought 'Pure Shores', 'Black Coffee', 'Let Love Lead the Way' (the green covered one above), 'I Want Your Love' and 'Independent Women' that year - and 'Jump Down' on CD and 'Girls on Top' on cassette when it was in the bargain bin at Woolworths. I think I only got the 'One Touch' album after 'Freak Like Me' went to #1 a few years later (again, Woolworths' bargain bin. Happy days).

 

And I wasn't Westlife's greatest fan at that time either. Hence why I was super delighted when Bob the Builder stopped them getting another Christmas number one :D

Edited June 4, 201510 yr by ThePensmith

2001

 

14TH JANUARY 2001

 

Mis-Teeq - "Why?"

Official UK Chart peak: #8

 

http://eil.com/images/main/Mis-Teeq-Why-389723.jpg

 

And a new year is upon us - and one, where, after the overcrowded haphazard antics of 2000 (blame it on Millennium bug fever, I say), we start to regain some stability and normality - meaning potentially even bigger gaps between new peaks and debuts - largely, it has to be said, as single sales and total of number ones this year were just beginning to feel the bite of internet piracy and illegal downloads, with iTunes still some two years away from inception into the public conscience.

 

And at the very start of the year, we said a H to the E to the double L-O to Sabrina Washington, Su-Elise Nash and future 'Britain's Got Talent' judge and Strictly champ Alesha Dixon (you'll note in the cover artwork above that there was a fourth member, Zena McNally, who lasted for this single only before deciding she didn't want to be famous) - aka British R&B trio Mis-Teeq.

 

 

Formed at the end of 1999 in the glamorous Hertfordshire confines of Welwyn Garden City, 'Why' had originally been released in the autumn of 2000 as their debut single, a sultry, otherwise insignifcant number that Destiny's Child would have made light work of. But it was only when UK garage bods Jam and Lamont reswizzled it into the best known version that it was quickly picked up firstly by pirate radio, and then by DJ Spoony and the Dreem Team at Radio 1 as one to watch.

 

Taking advantage of the January sales lull and fresh support not just from Radio 1 but also cooler commercial dance stations like Kiss and Galaxy, on its second release out it stormed straight into the UK top 10. All around were intrigued - and they were quickly signed following this release to a full scale album deal with Wildstar, also home to fellow garage god Craig David. UK garage had finally got some girl power - and this was just the start of even greater things for Mis-Teeq.

 

Let's not forget here this was the last single before their imperial phase both here in the UK and in the States kicked off and in some ways, 'Jumpin' Jumpin' is like a gentle but still rumbunctious ushering in of that imminent era of world domination. It was also their last single with newbie replacement Farrah in their number before it became the lineup the world over knows best of all. The message to all concerned, to quote their later hit, was quite simply 'Can you keep up?'

 

 

Jumpin' Jumpin' is my favourite DC song. Now they did have other great stuff but a song doesn't have to be as outrageously strident as Survivor or Bootilicious to be their best.

ThePensmith is an apt name. Your writing on the Spicegirls was very good.

ThePensmith is an apt name. Your writing on the Spicegirls was very good.

 

Thanks, I really appreciate that :) I naturally did a longer entry on them because of their history and legacy. Just wish they'd had more entries in this thread for me to be able to go a bit more in depth!

21ST JANUARY 2001

 

All Saints - "All Hooked Up"

Official UK Chart peak: #7

 

http://a3.mzstatic.com/eu/r30/Music/v4/74/e2/71/74e271aa-2e45-f730-adec-5d0cf2ab2055/cover600x600.jpeg

 

Aka the single where it all ended over a jacket. On paper, All Saints seemed to be the least likely of all the girl groups in that time to be in choppy waters. After all, 2000 had been a swimmingly good year for them with the two number ones we've already met - and 'Pure Shores' was, of course, the biggest seller of the year overall until Bob the Builder snatched the crown from them in the dying days of December - as well as their first number one album with second opus 'Saints & Sinners' and a sold out tour planned for the spring of this year. Their popularity with the public and critics alike had never been stronger.

 

As I've already mentioned though, behind the chilled out, combat wearing, William Orbit backed facade, things were going very badly wrong in their camp. Inter-band politics and tensions had dogged them for a good few years before this and were, in part, responsible for keeping them in the public eye during 1999 when they released no new records at all. But it was getting so bad that it rather started to overshadow their musical achievements, as was the case when 'All Hooked Up' came to be released at the start of 2001.

 

'Saints & Sinners', this single's parent album, was so called, said the band's Canadian sisters Natalie and Nicole Appleton in their 2002 autobiography 'Together' (which I would strongly advise getting hold of), because of the way the band was portrayed as one of two halves. The 'serious' musician 'saints' (Shaznay Lewis and Melanie Blatt), and the airhead, party girl 'sinners' (the Appletons). Nicole had, of course, threatened to walk out two years prior to this when the girls were recording a performance at 'Later... with Jools Holland' that nearly ended in fisticuffs.

 

 

Accusations of management favouritism, relegations to backing vocals etc all built up and built up, until that infamous, well documented row between Shaznay and Natalie over who was wearing a jacket for a performance at that year's Smash Hits Poll Winners Party - of all the girly things to argue over - broke the camel's back, and the Appletons duly handed in their resignations in January 2001. All Saints exploded abruptly and prematurely, but with the benefit of hindsight the writing had been on the wall for a while.

 

Which makes 'All Hooked Up' feel like a rather jarring final single. Even back then it was never my ideal choice for a third single - 'Dreams' or 'I Feel You' would have been a far better option, as they fitted more neatly with the two singles that had come before it. 'All Hooked Up' sounded like something they could've released in their sleep in 1998 but sounded very dated in the 21st century - particularly with Shaznay's cringey attempts at being all ghetto nasty on the chorus.

 

Alas, the damage had been done, and they were very lucky to get this top 10 when there was next to nothing of the traditional publicity like TVs and radio airplay that even some of their smaller performing hits from the first album had had. We'll meet them again some five years later in this thread - but of course, before that, we'll meet two of them again in 2002 and 2003, this time in an entirely new band. No prizes for guessing which ones!

Edited July 7, 201510 yr by ThePensmith

I've always detested 'All Hooked Up', what an awful swan song. Thank god they reformed to restore some of their legacy.

 

This is a great thread, so many groups (Madasun!) that I'd forgotten about.

4TH FEBRUARY 2001

 

Atomic Kitten - "Whole Again"

Official UK Chart peak: #1

 

http://a2.mzstatic.com/eu/r30/Music6/v4/e5/e7/e4/e5e7e4b4-2e08-1c07-f735-2db5994aaaa7/cover600x600.jpeg

 

February. Aka the month where the charts are slowly beginning to get busy again after the January lull. And also, usually the month when record companies start cancelling the record deals of the many acts who were full of promise a year ago but delivered little return on investment in the 12 months that passed. In the girl group domain, this included cheerio to Girl Thing, Madasun, Made in London and Fierce who we met last year. And technically, it should have also been 'cheerio' to the Kittens v1.0, even though they'd just picked up a 'Best New Act' award at the previous year's Smash Hits Poll Winners Party.

 

Both they and their management weren't giving up without a fight though, even in the face of the underperformance of their last single and debut album. Especially since there was one song in their live sets supporting the likes of Steps and 911 that proved to be more popular than any of their singles previous to this - a track they had first demoed as far back as late 1998, called 'Whole Again'. When originally released on the Japanese edition of the 'Right Now' album, only the chorus was sung and Kerry took on the verses as spoken sections.

 

The full story of how it came to be turned into the best known version - reworked by the Wise Buddah team of Bill Padley and Jeremy Godfrey (who'd also go on a year later to provide Holly Valance's worldwide number one 'Kiss Kiss') - is documented here and it's fascinating reading not just in that context, but also of the extraordinary story of how 'Whole Again' was the rescue plan with everything against it that went so phenomenally well.

 

 

Because it really did have everything against it. The single artwork was recycled from an old photoshoot for one of their earlier singles. The video was filmed on a shoestring budget (undisclosed sources have estimated it was about £5k) not to mention Kerry had begun her ascent into tabloid favourite when she announced she'd committed that cardinal sin of a female popstar - falling in love with, and then getting engaged to and carrying the baby of, a boyband member (Westlife's Brian McFadden) - and on top of all that, confirming she was leaving the band.

 

And even though she was swiftly replaced by fellow victim of major label axe wielding - Precious' Jenny Frost - everyone around rightly assumed that Irish rockers U2, who were riding the crest of a wave with their comeback #1 'Beautiful Day', and who were getting blanket airplay, would follow it up with another chart topper 'Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of' whilst 'Whole Again' would meander in the top 20 for a week before falling. So when it not only went straight in at number one, but stayed there for four weeks, increasing its sales at the top each week it was there - a rare feat on all counts at the start of the 21st century - everyone around was shocked and surprised. The new and improved Atomic Kitten were going nowhere - they were here to stay.

 

So just what was it that made 'Whole Again' as big as it became? Well, as the Wise Buddah lads said themselves, it was ultimately, all about the song. I got pretty sick of it by the end of 2001, as I'm sure everyone else did, but as time has passed I have slowly grown fond of it again. As I've already mentioned I wasn't a fan of the Kittens once they did descend into mid-tempo and lame cover version hell but 'Whole Again' is the one exception. What it lacked in the high octane disco thumpers of their earlier hits it made up for in just being a good, simply produced and written pop record - and sometimes, less really is more.

Edited July 7, 201510 yr by ThePensmith

18TH FEBRUARY 2001

 

Girls@Play - "Airhead"

Official UK Chart peak: #18

 

http://eil.com/images/main/GIRLSPLAY-Airhead-388357.jpg

 

We've heard of soap stars eventually becoming popstars - Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, Martine McCutcheon, Natalie Imbruglia and Holly Valance are just some of the names that come to mind when you're asked for examples. But what about popstars becoming soap stars? Strangely, they exist too, because we make our first of two encounters now with a band featuring a certain future Roxy Mitchell.

 

Yes, before she was wrecking havoc on Albert Square, Rita Simons was a mechanic. Albeit a mechanic in a girl group created by Stock and Aitken - the 'S/A' half of the 'S/A/W' team from the 80's - who were being touted as a modern day, all female Village People. You have to give credit for their creators having an original approach at least. I mean, Pete Waterman envisaged Steps as a line dancing one hit wonder when they started out - and then look what happened.

 

 

And sure enough, fresh off supporting the latter on their Christmas 2000 tour, Girls@Play - who utilised the '@' symbol in their band name in a move that was only previously executed by short lived rollerskating boyband 'E-M@le' in 1998 - duly trooped into the top 20 with this bouncy little number about having a boyfriend who was basically Joey Essex in a time when Joey Essex was probably barely out of primary school.

 

It's dated as well as this kind of record can, but you rather get the impression that the 'female Village People' skit that was part of the selling point for this single meant it didn't really matter. Girls@Play weren't trying to be the new Spice Girls - a wise move given the experiences of most of 2000's underperformers. They were simply offering unadulterated, naff but likeable plastic fantastic pop. And in 2001, that was slowly becoming in grave short supply.